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Last Saturday night in Sydney, Heartbeat of Football – a fundraising organisation founded and driven by well-known football identity Andy Paschalidis – hosted the first ever reunion of players, coaches and identities from the National Soccer League.
Whatever the merits of a top-six final series in a ten-team competition, the number of teams who make the A-League play-offs is unlikely to change now, with the impending addition of two more teams in the next two seasons.
The catalogue of disasters emanating from Gosford came to an awful head on Saturday night.
Now that the wildly successful Russia World Cup is but a happy fading memory, the football world’s attention has gone back to intensely disliking the thought of where the next edition of the greatest show on earth will be hosted.
Throughout Australia, sleep-deprived fans awoke this morning with the feeling that a good friend had been farewelled, not to be seen for another four years.
England and Croatia are two nations who have put an indelible stamp on the history of football development in Australia, so it was inevitable their semi-final at Russia 2018 would be of more than just passing interest to locals.
If the England-Colombia game was a novel, it’d be the kind of thriller that relied on predictable violence leading up to a couple of late twists and then an ending no-one saw coming.
A colleague of mine told me it was time to move on from the Socceroos familiar lament and stick my neck out over which country is going to be the one to hold aloft the big gold trophy on July 15th.
Yes, for Australia it’s over before the knockout phase. Again. The blood-letting has begun from the usual suspects, some of it informed, some of it predictably not.
With all countries in the World Cup having played two matches, a fascinating last round is in store for at least six of the eight groups, with only two pools knowing the two countries who will be progressing to the round of 16.
In 2010, Pim Verbeek took the Socceroos to the World Cup finals in South Africa on the back of an almost perfect qualifying campaign.
Portugal and Spain produced a classic for the ages this past weekend.
For those of you only tangentially bitten by World Cup fever, the next four weeks should be renamed ‘be kind to your workmate’ month.
Melbourne Victory’s fourth A-League title in Saturday’s grand final was achieved by a side that has done it the hard way, coming from fourth place to claim the championship, the first time a team from outside the top two has lifted the A-League trophy.
With seemingly the whole of Newcastle wanting to be a part of Saturday’s A-League Grand Final against Melbourne Victory, it’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time Melbourne and Newcastle teams have played a national club final.
As often as Riley McGree’s incredible scorpion goal last Friday night has been viewed (well over a million times just on the Newcastle Jets website alone), Fox Sports commentator Brenton Speed’s call of the Jets player’s goal against Melbourne City in that semi final will surely go down in folklore too.
The city of Viareggio is nestled on the coast of Tuscany, more famous for its gastronomic pleasures than its football, yet for the last 70 years, the Viareggio Cup has attracted the best youth players from Italy and the world.
It was Old Boys weekend and the RAAF round as Sydney FC made the trip up the M1 to face their closest rivals, the resurgent Newcastle Jets.
There is nothing quite as confronting as an over-tired child.
The Newcastle Jets sit six points behind the reigning champions from the Harbour City, after some very barren years, which saw the Novocastrians burn through coaches at an alarming rate, survive the horror of the Tinkler ownership era, and not come close to making a finals appearance.
Wanderers fans didn’t trash the old stadium, it was their existence in such numbers that led to a new one getting built.
Sydney is the most embarrassing city in Australia
Except for people who live on the northern beaches, where there is no rail line at all.
Sydney is the most embarrassing city in Australia
Waz
Latest reports indicate FFA want expansion to happen next season. In this case, Southern Expansion won’t have a stadium built in time. I’m honestly having a hard time visualising SE being able to do what they claim at Lucas Heights.
Sydney is the most embarrassing city in Australia
Why would Southern Expansion build their own stadium and then only play one-third of their games there? Frankly, I don’t believe a word of it.
Sydney is the most embarrassing city in Australia
Mike, I’d say this is a call to arms. I’d also respectfully say that it was a tad harsh, as there ended up being a good-sized contingent of Wanderers fans at the derby. It will be interesting to see how FC fans cope with being – ironically enough – “wanderers” for the next 3 seasons. The finish of the new Parramatta stadium can’t come quickly enough for the Wanderers and for the league in general.
The Wanderers' dwindling fan base proves why they're Sydney's second team
Where does it state that synthetic pitches are not “FFA-approved?” Sydney FC played Rockdale on a synthetic pitch in this season’s cup. They also played Sydney United on a synthetic pitch in last year’s cup. I’m sure there are other examples.
What is the point of the National Premier Leagues?
My understanding was the Apia-Victory game was moved to Leichhardt Oval because the expected crowd size was too big for Lambert Park. After all, Sydney FC played Rockdale on a synthetic pitch in the previous round.
What is the point of the National Premier Leagues?
Craig Midgley
Robbie Hooker
Brad Maloney
Lee Sterrey
Alex Tobin
Ian Ferguson
Harry Kewell
John Anastasiadis
Jean-Paul De Marigny
Phil Moss
The A-League managerial pressure cooker
Is there any truth to the rumour that the A league is expanding to 12 teams to give Liam Reddy two new clubs to play for?
A few things you will not see in the A-League this season
That is the “official line.” The reality is that FIFA were concerned about Colombia’s preparation for at least 18 months before the decision to relinquish the tournament. They jumped before they could be pushed.
The smear campaign allegations could end up being the smoking gun needed to strip Qatar of the World Cup
Not if they were found to have contravened rules regarding their bid. (I know, I know, rules and FIFA and all that)
The smear campaign allegations could end up being the smoking gun needed to strip Qatar of the World Cup
I was thinking of where the WC might end up if Qatar was stripped of it, and the most logical place is back in Europe. There is a precedent to this; Colombia were stripped of the 1986 hosting rights 3 years out from the tournament start and Mexico ended up as hosts.
The smear campaign allegations could end up being the smoking gun needed to strip Qatar of the World Cup
As soon as I saw the footage of the AFL brawl I knew full well that it would be compared to “soccer” by the more sycophantic members of the AFL press. They are nothing if not predictable.
Even as an innocent bystander, football is implicated
Manfred Moore! Josh, I love that you remember him!
Usain in the membrane: Why Bolt in the A-League makes no sense
Why on earth would someone who can run 100 metres in under 10 seconds need to be offside?
Usain in the membrane: Why Bolt in the A-League makes no sense
But they had a gifted 19 year old that they put trust in…oh, wait…
The Arnold era begins: A swipe at Bert and psychological mumbo jumbo
We can deride Australia’s failed bid for the 2022 World Cup and the fact it received one vote. However, the FIFA Technical committee had assessed it as one of the best-prepared in the lead-up to the vote. Qatar’s was last among the bidding nations. Also, the major stumbling block with an Australia-hosted World Cup was the clash of grounds with other winter codes – which, had the bidding team known could have been played in November – would not have been an issue.
That is why the awarding of the tournament to Qatar will leave a sour taste. They bought the bid, lock, stock and barrel and FIFA fell over themselves to make sure they got it, even ignoring their own rules about distance between stadiums, time of year to stage the tournament and a host of others.
Now it's Qatar's time to shine – if they're given the chance
No love for Belgium-Japan in the best game of the tournament category?
The Roar's 2018 World Cup awards: Player, game and goal of the tournament, and much, much more
It was indeed a great game. Personally though, I thought Belgium-Japan was the best game of the tournament. I’ve got mixed feelings about France. Agree with you that their playing style was in the main stultifying but then again, they were part of a 4-3 game against Argentina and the best final since 1986. It seemed that when teams found a way to circumvent their overly defensive approach, they had the attacking flair in reserve to “counter the counter.”
Finally, the screens fall dark and silent
Some of the MV players who won the Grand Final have a different recollection of the week after their win…
Leroy George slams A-League standard as "not very high", says players "booze all week"
jb
I think Argentina beat Netherlands 3-1 in the 1978 final.
Would an amazing World Cup final make Russia the greatest tournament of all?
Perhaps that was the same time that Ian Brusasco suggested that football goal posts be made bigger?
Would an amazing World Cup final make Russia the greatest tournament of all?
Mike
What exactly are the mistakes? I don’t disagree – the A League has struggled this season but what do we compare it to? If it’s the NSL, let’s not, because as much as I and a lot of others fondly remember those times, the A-League is light years ahead in terms of organisation, promotion and crowds. If it’s other football codes, well, the NRL and the AFL have both experienced crowd and ratings drop-offs in recent seasons but because they are operating from a larger base with a whole lot more TV money to play with, it’s not a crisis. The NSW State Government’s obsession with infrastructure has killed the biggest marquee match the league has, because there’s not a decent stadium to play it in, and no reliable public transport to get to it.
So what’s the answer? Promotion/relegation? Not for years. A National Second Division? OK, but which of the current NPL clubs around the country could afford to play in it? An independently-run A-League? Possibly, but run by whom? Expansion? Definitely, and it’s coming, though too late for many, and the league needs to do it a whole lot better. In fact, study how the AFL does expansion and go from there, go and say to Canberra, Hobart, Wollongong and Brisbane City, “Right, you’re coming into the league in 2 seasons. This is what you have to have in place by then.”
The A-League has six months to save itself from oblivion